Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. The Housing for All target for this year is to build 33,450 new homes. I do accept there is a gap between the existing target and what is needed. In the past, we did not have the capacity to deliver, but that capacity is increasing all the time. We need to have an informed process in setting new targets. The Department of housing is working with the ESRI on research that will inform the national and geographical needs based on our population growth. We need to build more houses, but we need to build them in the right places.

The Taoiseach wants our targets to be ambitious and that is a good thing. The final figures for last year will probably show that approximately 33,000 new homes were built. That is the highest since the crash. Construction began on more than 3,400 homes last month alone, which is a 90% increase year on year. We are making substantial progress but, of course, we need to do more.

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is working day and night, I have to say, when it comes to increasing housing supply and when he gets the research data, he will set out revised targets.

We are now seeing major housing developments all across the country. Planning permissions, commencements, mortgage approvements and all those indicators are all going in the right direction. A huge amount of work is being done to tackle vacant and derelict properties. We have the vacant home grant of up to €70,000. We know how extremely popular that is. I see this myself. Houses that have been derelict for years and years are now being transformed into new homes for young people and breathing new life into our towns and villages and into our rural areas as well. That grant is proving to be very popular. More and more people are looking at renovating existing homes, especially in the towns that have the services. It certainly makes sense to do that.

When we entered government in 2011, the problem was ghost estates and huge negative equity. As we all know, the sector was decimated. It has been built back up and there have been many challenges in the interim. We had the challenge of Brexit, Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and inflation. Last year alone, we saw the highest number of new builds since that crash.

Government policies are working. We need to do more, which I accept, and we will do more. As I said, our new targets will need to be based on data and population growth leading to more houses in the right places. The ESRI research is actually due out next month. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will announce updated targets shortly after he receives that report. I have no doubt they will be ambitious.

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